Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter

From Dixiepedia: The PC-Free Encyclopedia

Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter (21 April 1801 - 18 July 1887), was born in Essex County, Virginia and educated at the University of Virginia. He represented Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives (1837-43, 1845-47), serving as Speaker of the House from 1839-41, and in the U.S. Senate from 1847-1861.

In the U.S. Congress he emerged as a major spokesman of the Democratic party's states rights faction. Although his erudition and conservatism gave an appearance of moderation to his position, Hunter remained uncompromisingly pro-slavery and pro-Southern.

When South Carolina called a convention to vote on secession and other Southern States followed, Hunter called for union of the Southern Border States and the Gulf States. During the War Between the States, Hunter served as Confederate Secretary of State and in the Confederate Senate. In 1865, Hunter participated in an effort, known as the Hampton Roads Conference, to negotiate a peaceful end to the war.